Door-catch.



E. MIKKELSEN.

DOOR CATCH.

AFPLICAT 8, I918. 1,297,221. Patented Mar. 11,1919.

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PATENT OFFICE.

nnwann HIKKELSEN, or cnreneo, rumors.

DOOR GA'I'CH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD MIKKELSEN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Catches, of whichthe followin is a specification.

The invention relates to door catches and seeks to provide an improvedconstruction more particularly adapted for refrigerator doors and' whichis simple in construction,

will serve to hold the door snugly closed and can be readily released toopen the door. A further object of the invention is to provide meanswhereb the trip for releasing the door catch or b0 t will also serve toforce the door away from the j amb. The inven tion also seeks to providean improved catch in which the door and frame members cooperate tosupport part of the weight ofthe door.

The invention consists in the features of improvement hereinafter setforth, illustrated in the preferred form in the accompanying drawing andmore particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the improved doorcatch and portions of the door and door frame whereon the catch membersare mounted. Flg. 2 is'a detail view on an enlarged scale with partsshown in section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail horizontalsec tion on the lines 33 of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a detail horizontalsection on an enlarged scale taken on the line 44 of Fi 1.

The improved catch is particularlv designed for use in connection withheavy refrigerator doors. It comprises a metal door member or plate 10which is adapted to -be secured to the outer face of the door 11adjacent its free vertical edge. In the construction shown, the doormember or plate 10 is adapted to be secured to the outer face of thedoor 11 by fastening screws 12 and,

is provided at its outer edge with a rigid lug 13 which projectslaterally beyond the edge of the door andwhich is preferably integralwith the door member or plate 10.

The frame member of the improved catch comprises a metal strip or ,bar14 which is secured to the outer face of the door frame or jamb 15adjacent the edge of the door opening. In the constructlon shown, the

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 28, 1918.Serial 110. 225,814.

Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

meta-l stri or bar 14 is provided at its ends with pe orations forreceiving fastening bolts 16 and the central portion thereof is providedwith an inwardly projecting'lug.

17 for receiving a fastening screw 18. The outer portion of the framemember 14 is provided with an outwardly projecting rib 19 and theadjacent faces of this rib and of the bar or strip l4 form an angularseat or ,guide for a vertically sliding bolt 20 which is provided at itslower end with a nose 21 for-en ging the lug 13. The main body of the hot 1s substantially rectangular in outline, but its outer vertical edgeis cut away throughout a portion of its length, the face 22 of this cutaway portion being inclined, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3. A shoe 23is secured to the outer portion of the rib 19 by screws 24 and isprovided with an inclined inner face which engages the inclined face 22of the bolt and holds the latter in position. The recessed or cut awayportion of the bolt is longer than the shoe and shoulders 25 and 26 atthe ends of the recess are arranged to engage the ends of the shoe andthus limit the movement of the bolt.

The arrangement is such that the bolt 20 is properly held in place withits inner face substantially in line with the inner edge of the framemember 14, so that the lug 13 on the door need project only to a slightextent beyond the edge of the door.

The movement of the bolt is also guided by a laterally projecting lug 27on its lower end which extends within a vertical slot 28 formed in theadjacent face of the rib 19. The inner corner of the bolt and preferablythe adjacent portions of the parts 14 and 19 of the frame member are cutaway to form a recess 29 for receiving a coiled spring 30, the ends ofwhich are connected to pins 31 and 32 fixed respectively to the bolt andto the frame member, the spring serving to force the bolt downwardly andhold its locking nose 21 hooked over and snugly in engagement with theupper edge of the lug 13.

As shown, the nose 21 of the bolt and the refrigerator doors areprovided with packing strips 33, as indicated in Fig. 4, of rubber orthe like and the operation of the spring-actuated locking bolt againstthe lug 13 serves to hold the door tightly closed with the packingstrips compressed. Furthermore, any wear on the packing strips will betaken up.

A trip for the locking bolt is mounted on the door member 10. This tripis preferably in the form of an arm 3% pivotally mounted to swing overthe face of the plate 10 and parallel with the vertical face of thedoor. Preferably, as shown, the latch is fixed to the outer end of apivot bolt 35 which extends through the door member 10 and also throughthe edge of the door and is pro vided at its outer and inner ends withhandles 36 and 37. In the preferred form shown, the handle 36 is formedin one piece with the trip arm 34:. A U-shaped member or staple 38 fixedto the plate 10 extends over the trip arm and serves to hold it inposition and limit its swinging movement. The end of the trip armprojects beyond the edge of the door and is preferably adapted to engagethe locking bolt 20. By grasping and depressing either handle 36 or 37,the trip can be raised to lift the bolt against the tension of thespring 30 and thereby disengage it from the lug 13 so that the door canbe opened, both the releasing of the bolt and opening of the door beingquickly effected by the same handle.

Preferably, as shown, the end of the trip arm 3 is provided with arounded inclined face 0 which is arranged to engage the outer inclinedface a of the nose 21 of the locking bolt. The arrangement of theseinclined faces and of the inclined faces I) and b of the bolt and lug issuch that as the handle and trip arm are shifted, the bolt will not onlybe raised to clear the lug 13 but the free edge of the door will beforced away from its jamb. Considerable leverage can be thus exerted toforce the door open and this operation greatly facilitates the openingof heavy refrigerator doors, which as stated, are usually provided withpacking strips at their edges to form tight joints when the door isclosed.

In the preferred construction shown, the door member adjacent its lowerportion, is provided with a lip or shoulder 39 which extends beneath andis arranged to engage the lower edge of the lug 13 so as to sustain inpart the weight of the door. The outer end of this lip or shoulder isdownwardly inclined, as indicated at (Z and the inner portion of thelower edge face of the lug 13 is upwardly inclined, as indicated at d.Preferably, as shown, the inclined faces (Z and cl are slightly curvedand, when the door is closed, these faces will cooperate to slightlylift the free edge of the door and accurately neeaeai position it withrespect to the door opening. The construction thus serves to relieve thedoor hinges of a portion of the weight of the door when the latter isclosed.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the details set forth withoutdeparture from the essentials of the invention as defined in the claims.

1' claim as my invention 1. A door catch comprising door and framemembers, a spring actuated latch for connecting said members, and amanually operable releasing trip for said latch, said parts having camfaces for forcing the door toward its jamb when said latch is operativeand for forcing the door open when said trip is actuated.

2. A; door catch comprising door and frame members, a latch forconnecting said members, and a manually operable releasing trip for saidlatch mounted on said door member and having means cooperating with apart on said frame member for forcing the door away from its jamb and ina direction transverse to the plane of the door.

3. A door catch comprising a plate adapted to be secured to the outerface of the door and having a lug adapted to project beyond the outeredge of the door, a frame member adapted to be secured to the outer faceof the door jamb and having a vertically disposed rib, said rib and themain body of said frame member forming an angular seat, a verticallymovable, spring actuated latch bolt slidably mounted in said seat withits inner edge substantially in alinement with the inner edge of saidframe member, said bolt having a nose at its lower end arranged to hookover said projecting lug, a handle pivoted on said door plate to swingparallel to the face of the door and having a projecting trip armarranged to engage and release said latch bolt, substantially asdescribed.

4-. A door catch comprising door and frame members, a springactuatedbolt mounted on said frame member and arranged to engage said doormember, and a trip for releasing said bolt mounted on said door memberand having means arranged to cooperate with a part on said frame memberto force the door open and in a direction transverse to the plane of thedoor.

5. A door catch comprising door and frame members, a spring-actuatedbolt mounted on said frame member and arranged to engage said doormember, and a trip mounted on said door member and adapted to releasesaid bolt, said parts having inclined cam faces for forcing the doortoward the jamb when said bolt is operative and for forcing the dooropen when said trip is actuated.

6. A door catch comprising cooperating door and frame members, a lug onsaid door member, a springactuated bolt on said frame member arranged toengage said lug and a trip for releasing said bolt pivoted on said doormember and provided with an operating handle, said bolt and trip havingcooperating cam faces for forcing the door away from its jamb.

7. A door catch comprising cooperating door and frame members, a lug onsaid door member, a spring-actuated bolt on said frame member arrangedto engage said lug and a trip on said door member for releasing saidbolt, said bolt and said lug having cooperatingcam faces for shiftingsaid bolt and for forcing the door against its jamb, and said trip beingarranged to cooperate with said bolt to force the door open.

8. A door catch comprising a door plate having a projecting lug at itsouter edge, a frame member, a vertically slidable, springactuated, boltmounted on said frame member and arranged to engage the upper edge ofsaid lug, said 'frame member having a supporting shoulder for engagingthe lower edge of said lug, and a trip for said bolt mounted on saiddoor member and provided with a handle. a

9. A door catch comprising cooperating door and frame members, a lug onone of said members, a spring actuated bolt on the other ofsaid membersarranged to engage said lug, said bolt and lug having cam faces forforcing the door against its amb, and a manually operable trip forreleasing said bolt mounted on said door member and having meansarranged to cooperate with a part on said frame member to force the dooropen.

10. A door catch comprising cooperating door and frame members, saiddoor member having a projecting lug and said frame member having asupporting shoulder extending beneath and in engagement with the lowerface of said lug, a releasable latch for connecting said door and framemembers, said lug, shoulder and latch having cam portions for slightlylifting and centering the door and for forcing the same against itsjamb, and an operating handle for said latch mounted on said doormember.

EDWARD MIKKELSEN.

